Clasp for hitching-straps



(No Model.)

0. B. BRISTOL.

CLASP FOR HITOHING STRAPS.

No. 353,842. Patented Dec. '7, 1886.

a clamp, F, is hung.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES B. BRISTOL, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

CLASP FOR HlTCHlNG-STRAPS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 353,842, dated December 7,1886.

Applicathn filed October 18, 1886. Serial No. 216,481.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES E. BRISTOL, of New Haven, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new Improvement in Clasps for Hitch-Lines; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with accompanying drawings, and the letters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, and which said drawings constitute part of this specification, and represent, in-

Figure 1, a top or face view of a strap, show ing the clasp applied; Fig. 2, aside view of the same; Fig. 3, alongitudinalsection ofthe same, showing the strap withdrawn from the clamp; Fig. 4, a longitudinal section showing the strap as introduced and engaged by the clamp; Fig. 5, a modification.

This invention relates to an attachment to be applied to a hitch-line for the purpose of engaging the end of thestrap, which may have been passed around a post or other device to which it is desired to hitch the animal, and is a substitute for the knot usually made at the time of hitching, the object being to make a.

clasp which will engage the line at any point, and so as to unyieldingly hold the line tightly drawn about the post or whatever it may be. The clasp consists of a plate, A, made flat and fitted for attachment to the strap Bsay as by rivets a-so that it becomes a permanent attachment at a given point on the line. The plate is secured near one of its ends, the other end being free. At that end it terminates in a transverse loop, C, in width corresponding substantially to the width of the hitch-line.

Upon each side of the plate is an upwardly, projecting ear, I), and on the under side is a bar, D, transversely across the opening of the loop. Between the ears and upon an axis, E, It extends forward over the opening in the loop and toward the extreme end bar, G, as seen in Fig. 3. Its under surface is eccentric to the axis of the clamp, and is preferably serrated, as shown. The

bar D is in a position between the axis and the end bar, G, as seen in Fig. 3, and so that the clamp may rest thereon when in its nearest approach to the bar G.

Upon the clamp, in rear of its axis, is ashoulder, (1. To the plate a flat spring, H, is fixed by one end. The other end, extending forward,

(No model.)

bears upward beneath the shoulder d, the tendency of the spring being to force the clamp onto the bar D.

The clamp F is constructed with an upwardly-projecting thumb-piece. I, above its axis, and to which the thumb maybe applied to conveniently turn the clamp, as indicated in broken lines, Fig. 4. The distance beturned backward for the purpose, as indicated in broken lines, Fig. 4, and as soon as the strap has been drawn sufficiently taut the cam is left free to close upon the strap and grasp it against the bar G, as seen in Fig. 4. The clamp acts as a cam against the strap, and so that any strain upon the strap,tending to draw it backward from the loop, will cause the cam to turn backward and make the grasp tighter in proportion to the strain thus applied. The serrated cam-like under surface of the clamp enables a firm engagement to be made with the strap, so that when once engaged accidental loosening is impossible.

The bar D serves as a stop to arrest the clamp F after the strap has been withdrawn, and so as to prevent its turning out of control of the spring H; but the bar D may be omitted, as seen in Fig. 5, and so that the end of the clamp under the action of the spring comes to a bearing upon the end bar, G.

The serrations may be omitted, as seen in Fig. 5, the friction between the strap and the cam being generally sufficient to draw the cam into the firm grasping position under the action of the spring, Which prevents the cam from accidentally turning backward.

After the strap has entered between the bar and the clamp, the clamp may be released. The spring will bear the clamp hard against the surface of the strap; but, because of the cam-like or eccentric shape, the strap may be freely drawn inward between the bar G and clamp, and the clamp will automatically prevent the return of the strap at any point Where the drawing of the strap into the clasp may cease.

I am aware that a cam-like clamp has been arranged to clasp a strap against a fixed resisting surface, and therefore do not Wish to be understood as claiming, broadly, such a clasp; but i What I do claim is- The herein-described clasp, consisting of the plate A, one end adapted to be secured to thestrap and the other end to stand free from the strap, the said other end constructed to form a loop, 0, with an end bar, G, combined CHAS. B. BRISTOL.

\Vitnesses:

JOHN E. EARLE, FRED O. EARLE. 

